Valarie Kinney

Valarie Kinney is a writer, fiber artist and Renaissance Festival junkie with a wicked caffeine addiction. She resides in Michigan with her husband, four children, and two insane little dogs. She is the author of Heckled, Slither and Just Hold On, as well as the short stories Copper and Ailith in the KAPOW! anthologies by 7DS Books. Narrator for Dragons of Faith.

We’re often told tales of the underworlds to feed the darkest corners of our nightmares. We tuck them away with the sunlight and laugh away the fear our minds created. But the daylight offers no relief for Zari. She’s hidden her waking nightmare as nothing more than a damaged past. The venom of her secrets consumes her, as well as…

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Ways you can help support your favorite authors without washing your hair or wearing pants:

1. If you read their books, leave a review. I know, I know. You keep hearing this. But it is truly such an important thing. And I think sometimes people feel intimidated, as if they maybe don’t know the “right” way to review a book, so they just don’t. But you don’t have to take a How to Write a Book Review class in order to do this. Just go to Goodreads or Amazon, and where it says, …“Would you like to leave a review?” click it. Click how many stars you would give the book. If you thought it was a two star book, that is fine. Be honest. Now write two sentences. They don’t have to be long. “I liked this book. It made me laugh.” is a sufficient review. The best part about leaving a review is, you don’t have to put on pants to do it. Nope. If you have read my books, please leave me a review. It would mean so much.

2. Add their books to your “Want to read” shelf on Goodreads.

3. Like reviews of their books on Goodreads or Amazon.

4. Share reviews of their books on social media.

5. Take pictures of their books when you get them and post them. Of course you can. You take pictures of your sleeping dog and your Chinese takeout dinner. You can also take pictures of books!

6. Read their books in public. This one may actually require pants. Sorry.

7. Talk about them. “I read this great book by So and So, I think you’d love it!”

8. Buy their books as birthday and Christmas gifts for your bibliophile friends and family. Books make great gifts, and they are already rectangular so you don’t have to put them in a box to wrap them.

9. Show up at their book signings. Depending on how close you are with the local police department, this one may also require pants.

10. Leave reviews on multiple sites. This does not mean you need to keep rewriting reviews. Just copy and paste. Ten seconds of time.

11. Send a message to your favorite author and tell them they inspire you. Or that they made you mad. Or laugh. Or cry. Tell them their work has touched you somehow. That might just be the day they were thinking about giving up and throwing their laptop out the window.